Two hearts
by Veedramon
Summary: Laid down over her bed, she listened. Two hearts beating, and they were hers. Was she a demon now? Was this the price for Xander saving her life?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Doctor Who. BTVS was created by Joss Whedon and produced by Mutant Enemy. Doctor Who and all related intellectual property are owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The song Time Is On My Side is from the Rolling Stones.**

**Any references to any intellectual property are made for entertainment only and not done to profit from it in any way.**

And I really, really with sugar on top need a beta reader for this story.

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><p>Laid down over her bed, she listened. Two hearts beating, and they were hers.<p>

Was she a demon now? Was this the price for Xander saving her life?

No, not a demon, something else. Something wonderful and scary, something... She had no clue what she was.

'They can't know, people fear what they don't understand and hate what they can't conquer.'

Who had said that? Had she read it somewhere? It sounded like wise words, someone had told her once, long ago, yet she could not remember. So she would pretend she was still the same, pretend that she didn't know it was Xander who had saved her, not Angel. Because that was not something Buffy the Slayer would know.

She felt stupid, so stupid, vampires don't breathe, so they can't do CPR. Yet it was something that the girl who died would have believed. Because, wasn't it romantic? To have a vampire prince charming going to the princess Slayer rescue?

Ah the foolishness of youth, yet there was something charming about it, Romeo and Juliet was still a classic after all. Yet it was also a warning, that all heart and no brain... not important at the moment.

The prophecy had been right, Buffy Summers, the Slayer, had died.

What she was now, she had no clue but...

A girl had died so she lived, she had to respect that. She had to respect the stupid, but a brave young woman who had died trying to save the world, only for her, the not Buffy, to finish the job. Does this mean, that she was free? Not a Slayer, not Buffy, not her friends, not her mother. Had she any reason to stay? Another Slayer had been called by now.

No, she won't run away.

Oh sure, Buffy Anne Summers would have run away, then forced by forces she didn't understand to fulfill a so called destiny anyway, be a disposable soldier in a never ending war.

She... however, she was, the girl who lived because Buffy had died, she won't fight a losing battle, she won't be someone else toy. No... She would end all this, as soon as she found how.

The Hellmouth, Boca del Infierno, who builds a town over a place like that?

Evil, of course, but she needed more than that.

It was only a hypothesis, she didn't have enough for a theory yet, but there was a force behind the Hellmouth, someone or some people wanting to use it to get something they wanted. Because, if the objective was just Hell on Earth, they had enough time without a Slayer in town to do that already.

Something, there was always something else, a detail not noticed or ignored, what was she not seeing?

Beginnings and Ends...

Oh, how could she be so blind? She should find out who founded the town, it was a good place to start.

But later, she was tired. Slayer or not, sleep was good.

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><p>Summer, low season for her type of job, according to Giles. She decided to not expend the Summer with her father, because she had research to do, not only about who was insane enough to found a town over a Hellmouth but what she could do about it. The excuse she gave her friends and Giles was that she got scared someone or something would kill her mother for revenge if she left. Low season or not, the Master could still have followers around. The excuse she gave her mother was that if her father really cared, he could come to visit.<p>

Oh, and she also melted the Master Bones using holy water, better be safe than sorry. After all, some versions of Dracula movies had him revived using his bones. Funny how Xander, who was fan of said movies, had not mentioned it, she guessed an outside perspective helped.

Too bad thinking about that reminded her again why she had an outside perspective.

Alone, she now truly was one girl in all the world, because whatever she was, something told her she was truly alone.

Still... she owned it to Buffy, and she would not consider her debt paid until the damn Hellmouth was gone. What would happen after that, if she lived, she had no bucking clue.

Why she thought that if she was careful enough, time was on her side? Not important for now.

The information about the town foundation was very easy to get, the bare bones explanation was that Sunnydale was founded in 1899 on an area Spanish settlers had called "Boca del Infierno" where they had also built a Catholic mission for the conversion of the local Chumash tribe. The town's founder was named Richard Wilkins, and color her not impressed, wasn't that the name of the current mayor, only with the roman number three added to it?

Was the whole mayor from hell a family legacy or he happened to be the same guy?

And she should probably investigate about the Chumash tribe.

This would be easier if...

No, not Willow, not Xander, No Giles. She could not tell them about this. They knew the dumb blonde thing was an act, but if she suddenly acted too smart they would suspect. And there were many things to give her away, not only the beating of two hearts, but her blood now was red orange! Not that she knew anything about blood tests, but a small cut in the prick of her finger was her first test to see if there were any other indicators that she wasn't human anymore.

And she didn't think the secret about her no longer being Buffy would last long. That's why she had been looking for other allies for when Buffy friends and Watcher turned on her. She was not a believer in God, but having a priest on your side was helpful to prove you were not an ally of the forces of darkness.

Father Flanagan was a priest who was both aware of Sunnydale night life and not in denial of it. She did not tell him she was the Slayer, or more correctly, that she used to be the Slayer. She just told him that she was a demon hunter and that doing so was in her blood. Not a complete lie, at least not before she became a not demon with two hearts.

She also did not tell him that she wasn't human, she would eventually, but as she had not adverse reaction to holy water, silver, churches and crosses, it did confirm her theory of not being a demon.

He did not ask for money to bless the water, but he was grateful for her donation.

Ah, how she wished she knew more about what the hell she was. Oh She really didn't know much about anything, did she?

She had time, Summer was a slow demon hunting season. And the public library had so many books, so many things she could learn not only to help her hunt the things that go bump in the night, but for her future. Knowledge is power, isn't it?

Future? Slayers had no future, but she was not a Slayer, was she? Whatever she was, she was sure that if she avoided being killed, she would live a very long life. Time is on my side, yes it is... stop that!

Still she had to admit, it was a catchy song!

Also, her mood in general had improved, she saw the world and everything with...

Hope.

She had been right, she still had hope.

Hope in humanity.

How funny, it took her no longer being human to admire the things humans could do if they tried. Giles was a Watcher, it was his job. But it wasn't Xander or Willow job. Heck Xander might be stuck in town, but Willow could have begged her parents to move away somewhere else, even if she had to make an international call to talk to them.

Yet, despite the danger, despite not being called for it or being their job, those two... they risked her lives to make Sunnydale a safer place.

But she could not ignore that when they found out her no longer being human, and they eventually would, that same enthusiasm and dedication would be used to hunt her.

Damn, she really wasn't Buffy anymore, was she? Too bad Willow would not, could not accept the new her, they could bond over nerd things.

And she could bond with Xander over her new liking of old monster movies...

A shame really.

Oh well, time to hit the books!

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><p>There was very little information about the Chumash tribe, the official story was that most of them died when a Catholic Mission was swallowed in 1812 by an Earthquake. Apparently the Mission was under Sunnydale somewhere. That of course not counting those killed in cold blood by Spanish soldiers and setters, or those who died by diseases they had no defense against that came from European colonists.<p>

There probably was one or a few angry Chumash ghosts around because of that.

Considering the Hellmouth was under her School, what was the next place full of students she knew where angry native Americans ghosts could be conveniently located? The Bronze? No, not old enough. Maybe another school? Still, since she had no real clue about the Mission remains current location, she would just have to put it in the To do list.

This Summer so far has been the busiest she ever hard, not only she had been reading random books she thought would be useful in the public library, she went over her school text books again due to the fact she easily got bored.

The former Buffy Anne Summers, bored and reading textbooks? She would have to keep her grades around the B-C range or Willow would suspect something.

Maybe she really was smarter now, or it was just the free time? Giles was not wrong about Summer being low season. The fact that nothing really was going on and that she had the excuse of wanting her mother safe meant she did not have to see her friends so much. But it had been a month, and save a few vampires a night and one demon, nothing had happened. She would need a better excuse, or just meet the Slayerettes (And that was so like a name for a Pop band in the sixties, The Slayer and the Slayerettes, really?) during the afternoon, late enough to cover any traces of reddish-orange blood and early enough to avoid going patrolling with one of them.

And another thing, how come her super healing only seemed to work when she was asleep? And wow, any scars were completely gone, even the one the master had given her. No big deal, she would just have to keep covering her neck like the scar was still there.

Maybe she could ask Willow for help to study for what was left of the Summer, then distract her and bond with girls stuff? After all Summer would not last forever, Oh, movie night! Maybe she and the gang should watch a few horror movies and then ask Giles how accurate they were.

In a way she was glad that she still had some of Buffy in her, that she still wanted friends, and have fun, it was like the first few weeks she had been in shock about the change, and now some part of Buffy was back. Well the old her would have told Giles about what she had become, but so far doing that seemed like a bad idea.

_'But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.'_ Jude 1:10, she never was a very religious girl, but since she had the help of a priest, she feel the need to learn about Judeo-Christian religion

Oh well, what movies could go first? Better let Xander pick those, and give Willow the veto option. That would make Willow feel important, and she needed to get the redhead out of the closet about...

Out of the closet?

Was Willow gay?

Bisexual?

Had she weird fetishes?

All she knew was that Willow seemed repressed, and better get her to slowly change instead of something Hellmouthy unleashing pervert Willow or something.

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> There is a reason why Buffy thinks of herself as both Not Buffy and is developing a different personality, can you guess it? Any suggestions about what old horror movies the gang should watch?


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